JPH0743453B2 - Ceramic table for fusion splicing of optical fibers - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an improvement of a ceramic base for optical fiber fusion splicing, which is used when splicing the tips of optical fibers.

(Prior Art) An optical fiber widely used for optical communication and the like consists of an extremely thin silica glass fiber of about 100 μm, but since the length that can be continuously molded is finite in the manufacturing process, wiring is actually performed. In the case of carrying out, the technique of joining the end faces of the optical fibers is required. When making such a connection, it is necessary to correctly align the optical fibers on both sides, and for this reason, for example, as shown in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-104412, an ore such as agate is used to mount a table having a recess in the center. Formed,
A single V-shaped groove, which is aligned with the rising portions on both sides, is used. However, in such a conventional device, only a V groove having a depth of several tens of μm is formed on the upper end surface of the flat rising portion, so that the upper surface of the optical fiber set in the V groove is clamped. When pressing, there is a drawback that the clamp material shifts in the lateral direction and the optical fiber is easily damaged.When connecting a multi-core optical fiber cable, it is necessary to connect each core wire one by one. It also had the drawback of being poor in sex.

Further, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-72413, a V-groove that is deeper than the diameter of the optical fiber is provided in order to prevent lateral displacement of the optical fiber, and a pressing member inserted inside the auxiliary groove that traverses the V-groove is used. An optical fiber positioning jig adapted to fix the optical fiber is shown. However, in this positioning jig, since the V groove is much deeper than the diameter of the optical fiber, the pitch cannot be reduced, and the V groove cannot be formed in accordance with the parallel pitch of the multi-core optical fiber tape cores. was there.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems and can easily connect a multi-core optical fiber cable,
Further, the optical fiber is not damaged by the lateral displacement of the clamp material, and V is adjusted according to the parallel pitch of the optical fibers.
It was completed for the purpose of producing a ceramic base for fusion splicing of optical fibers in which grooves can be formed.

(Means for Solving Problems) According to the present invention, a concave portion is formed in the center of a ceramic base body, and rising portions are formed on both sides thereof, and an optical fiber is supported on an upper end surface of the rising portion. A large number of V-grooves, which are shallower than the diameter of the optical fiber, are recessed at a constant pitch, and the side faces of these rising portions have end faces inclined toward the V-grooves at both ends of the above-mentioned V-grooves. It is characterized in that a clamp guide plate to be held is projected.

(Embodiment) Next, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the illustrated embodiment. (1) is a base body made of ceramic, and the overall size thereof is about 8 x 10 x 5 mm. The base body (1) may be made of alumina ceramic, but in this embodiment, partially stabilized zirconia colored in blue is used. Partially stabilized zirconia has less residual pores than alumina, and has fine crystals so that it is excellent in strength, toughness, smoothness, and less prone to fracture. Since zirconia is usually white, even if a transparent optical fiber is placed on the surface of zirconia, it has a drawback that it is unnoticeable and the joining work is difficult to perform. Therefore, it is preferable to color the zirconia as in the present embodiment, and particularly coloring the color zirconia has an advantage that the optical fiber is easy to see and eyes are not tired. The table body (1) has a recess (2) having a depth of about 2 mm and a width of about 3 mm at its center, and rising portions (3), (3) having a width of about 2.5 mm on both sides thereof. A large number of V-grooves (4), which are shallower than the diameter of the optical fiber (20) for supporting the optical fiber (20), are fixed on the upper end surfaces of the rising portions (3) and (3). It is formed in parallel with the pitch. The number of these V-grooves (4) is determined according to the number of core wires of the optical fiber cable, for example, 5
Five V-grooves (4) for connecting the core optical fiber cable
Is formed. The V-grooves (4) formed on both the rising portions (3) and (3) are naturally in a correctly aligned state. The angle formed by both side walls of each V groove (4) is 45 ° to 90 °,
It is preferable that the optical fiber (20) is supported at only two points on the cross section of the V groove (4) as shown in FIG. 2, preferably around 80 °, and the optical fiber is prevented from being damaged. In order to do so, the inner surface of the V groove (4) is polished to a mirror surface. As is clear from FIG. 2, V
It is assumed that the depth of the groove (4) is made shallow so that the upper end of the optical fiber (20) projects above the upper surface of the V groove (4) when the optical fiber (20) is supported. Further, in the present invention, the clamp guide plates (5) are vertically projected on the side surfaces of the rising portions (3) and (3) of the base body (1).
The end surfaces of these clamp guide plates (5) are V-shaped at both ends of a large number of V-grooves (4) recessed in the upper end surface of the rising portion (3) as shown in FIGS. It has a shape that is cut off so as to incline toward the groove. As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, the clamp guide plates (5) are respectively provided on both the inside and outside of the rising portions (3) and (3) so as to project, and there are four pairs in total. As shown, each rising part (3), (3) has only a total of 2 outside or only inside.
It is also possible to make a pair. As shown by the broken line in FIG. 1, a through hole (6) for moving up and down the joining means of the optical fiber (20) is provided in the center of the recess (2) of the base body (1). It is preferable to form a plurality of set holes (7), (7) for attaching the ceramic base itself of the present invention to the joining device on both sides of the back surface of the base body (1).
By utilizing these set holes (7) and (7), the ceramic base of the present invention can be correctly and easily fixed to the joining device.

(Operation) In order to perform the fusion splicing of the optical fibers by using the optical fiber fusion splicing ceramic base of the present invention configured as described above, first, on both sides of the concave portion (2) of the base body (1). As shown in FIG. 2, each core wire of the multi-core optical fiber cable is provided in each of the V-grooves (4), which are shallower than the diameter of the optical fiber recessed at a constant pitch on the upper end surface of the rising portion (3). One optical fiber (20) is set, and the ends of each optical fiber (20) are correctly abutted at the center of the recess (2). Next, the optical fiber (2) set in each V groove (4)
The optical fiber (20) is clamped on the upper surface of the V groove (4) protruding above the V groove (4), and the joining means is lifted from the through hole (6) at the center of the recess (2). Then, an arc of about 2000 ° C. is formed by the vapor phase discharge method and fused at the tip of the optical fiber (20). As described above, in the present invention, the optical fiber (2) for supporting the optical fiber (20) on the upper end surface of the rising portion (3) of the base body (1) is used.
Since V grooves (4) shallower than the diameter of 0) are recessed at a constant pitch, even when connecting multiple optical fiber cables, each optical fiber is correctly aligned and clamped one by one. And fusion can be performed simultaneously, so that the connection work can be performed efficiently. Particularly in the present invention, since the V groove (4) can be made shallower than the diameter of the optical fiber, the V groove (4) can be formed in accordance with the parallel pitch of the optical fibers of the multi-core optical fiber tape core. It is possible to more efficiently perform the connecting work of the multi-core optical fiber. Further, in the present invention, since the clamp guide plate (5) having the end face inclined toward the V groove (4) is provided on the side surface of the rising portion (3), the clamp material is placed on the upper surface of the V groove (4). It does not shift laterally when
The optical fiber (20) is not damaged by the clamp material. Moreover, these clamp guide plates (5) have the advantage that they do not interfere when setting the optical fiber (20) on the V groove (4) and are easy to set correctly. Especially when the whole is made of colored zirconia, the optical fiber (2
The condition (0) is easy to observe, and is excellent in strength, toughness, smoothness, etc., so that it has durability and has an advantage that the optical fiber (20) is not easily scratched.

(Effects of the Invention) As is apparent from the above description, the present invention makes it possible to easily connect multicore optical fibers to each other and does not cause damage to the optical fibers due to lateral displacement of the clamp material. Is. Further, in the present invention, unlike the conventional one, the V-groove is made shallower than the diameter of the optical fiber, so that the pitch of the V-groove can be made smaller in accordance with the parallel pitch of the optical fibers of the multi-core optical fiber tape core. . Therefore, the present invention is extremely large in that it contributes to the development of industry by solving the problems of the conventional ceramic base for fusion splicing of optical fibers.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of a V groove portion, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the present invention. (1): base body, (2): concave portion, (3): rising portion,
(4): V groove, (5): Clamp guide plate, (7): Set hole, (20): Optical fiber.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Takeo Seike 1 Taya-cho, Sakae-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. Yokohama Works (72) Inventor Taka Ota 71 Miyamachi, Miyamachi, Kasugai-shi, Aichi 14 (72) Inventor Mikio Kariya 3-4-17 Chiyoda, Naka-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A ceramic base body (1) is provided with a recess (2) in the center thereof, and rising portions (3) are formed on both sides thereof, and an optical fiber () is provided on the upper end surface of the rising portion (3). 2
0) is provided with a large number of V grooves (4) shallower than the diameter of the optical fiber (20) for supporting the optical fiber (20) at a constant pitch. Groove (4)
A ceramic base for fusion splicing of optical fibers, characterized in that a clamp guide plate (5) having end faces inclined toward the V groove at both ends of the above is provided in a protruding manner. 2. A ceramic base for fusion splicing of optical fibers according to claim 1, wherein the base body (1) is made of colored zirconia. 3. A ceramic base for fusion splicing of optical fibers according to claim 1, wherein the base body (1) has a plurality of set holes (7) on its back surface.